


Language of my Former Heart

by HashtagTheyFucked



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Kid!Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2020-09-24 13:31:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 9,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20359315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HashtagTheyFucked/pseuds/HashtagTheyFucked
Summary: Sabrina and Ambrose try to deal with two small problems.





	1. Chapter 1

  
A shrill scream echoed throughout the Spellman Mortuary and Sabrina Spellman shot straight up in bed. Down in the embalming room, Ambrose dropped the bowl he was about to heap a mountain of ice cream onto, and the large freezer door he had been standing in front of swung shut as he sprinted towards the stairs.

A second horror-movie scream came a few seconds after the first and Sabrina jumped out of bed just as a very out-of-breath Ambrose burst through her door.

“Sabrina!”

“Ambrose, what is that? Who’s screaming?”

“I thought it was you,” Ambrose panted, hanging off the doorframe.

They locked eyes in a moment of horrific clarity.

“The Aunties!” They gasped together, realizing at the same moment who was missing, before they both took off down the hall to their aunts’ mostly shared room.

Just before they reached the door they heard the same banshee-like shriek, only now that they were closer, they heard it dissolve into jagged gasping sobbing sounds. Ambrose stopped short at the door, holding out his arm, which Sabrina promptly ran into. They exchanged another terrified glance and Ambrose cautiously cracked open the door with Sabrina peeking her head over his shoulder.

“HIIILDAAA!”

They both jumped at the loudness and nearness of the unfamiliar wail.

Sabrina impatiently pushed the door open wider to try to see more of the room, panicked that something awful had befallen her more bubbly aunt.

Aunt Hilda’s bed was empty and unslept in, still neatly made from the previous day. Aunt Zelda’s bed, however, was occupied.

Just...

Not by their Aunt Zelda.

A small girl with golden-brown, almost bronze-colored hair, maybe six or seven years old, sat huddled against Aunt Zelda’s headboard. Her face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were wide in fear as they darted around the dark bedroom. Trembling little fists clutched at the blankets and she looked like she was on the verge of hyperventilating.

Both Ambrose and Sabrina stared in open-mouthed shock at the bed’s small occupant.

“What the-“

“Who-“

“Where’s my sister? Give her back!” The little girl yelled before either of the cousins could gather their thoughts enough to form a full coherent sentence. She looked as though she couldn’t decide whether to throw a tantrum or have a panic attack. Another shuddering sob wracked through her tiny frame before she managed to gather enough breath to shriek, “I. Want. My. SISTER!”

“Alright, alright, it’s okay,” Ambrose said putting his palms out carefully and wincing as the child continued to cry, “We want to help you. What’s your name?” When he didn’t get an answer other than continued bawling, he tried again. “Er, well, what’s your sister’s name?”

The child couldn’t seem to reign in her sobs enough to answer him and Ambrose shot Sabrina a helpless glance. She looked back at him, equally bewildered, and shrugged. Ambrose nudged her, giving a pointed look that clearly said, “you try something,” and Sabrina glared at him for a second before trying to soften her face as she turned back to the girl. She took a careful step forward.

“Hey there, it’s okay. We can help you find your sister, I promise, but you have to stop crying, okay?”

Sabrina got to the foot of the bed and looked back at Ambrose.

They both tried to calm the child down, but the girl was inconsolable. She kept shrinking away as much as she could from the two strangers trying to comfort her as she continued to cry. The only thing they could get out of her was the demand that they “give back” her sister.

Sabrina was sitting on the edge of the bed and Ambrose was kneeling next to the night table, both trying to make eye contact, both shushing and cooing at the distraught child, when a small voice interrupted them from the doorway.

“What’s happening?”

It was another little girl. This one in a lime green flannel nightgown that was far too big for her. She looked around the same age as the one in Zelda’s bed, maybe a little younger. It was hard to tell. She stood in the doorway, sleepily rubbing one fist over her eye and blinking. This newcomer had the same shade of golden-brown hair as the first little stranger.

The first little girl reached out both hands towards her apparent sister and cried, “Hilda!”

Ambrose and Sabrina looked at each other in shock as they both repeated, “Hilda?” in unison.

“Who’re you?” Hilda asked, looking suspiciously at the two cousins, as she took a few steps into the room. She had to hold up her oversized nightgown with both hands so she wouldn’t trip over it.

Again, neither of the cousins knew what to say. Before either of them could try for anything, the crying girl on the bed— who, therefore, had to be Zelda— whined incoherently and made grabby little hand motions in Hilda’s direction.

Hilda looked between Ambrose and Sabrina once more, but seemed to decide they weren’t a threat at the moment. She climbed onto the trunk at the foot of Zelda’s bed before scrambling over the footboard and onto to bed itself. She crawled past Sabrina and over to Zelda, nearly face-planting a few times from her too-long flannel sleeves getting in her way, before settling herself amongst the pillows and pulling her sister into a protective hug. She rubbed Zelda’s back soothingly and stared curiously at Sabrina and Ambrose. They stared back.

“Where _were_ you?” Zelda sobbed weakly from where she had her face buried in Hilda’s shoulder.

“The pink room down the hall,” Hilda answered.

“Why were you in a guest room?” Zelda asked.

Hilda shrugged and made a sound with no actual words but which carried the universal inflection of “I don’t know.”

Zelda sniffed again and wiped at her face with some of the extra fabric of Hilda’s nightgown. She then stuck her thumb in her mouth and burrowed herself closer to her sister.

Now that Sabrina got a closer look, that _was_ one of Hilda’s— grown up Hilda’s, that is— nightgowns. And, upon second glance, this tiny iteration of Zelda was swimming in the blue satin that was part of one of Aunt Zelda’s favorite loungewear sets.

“Who’re they?” Hilda stage whispered into Zelda’s hair as she made direct eye contact with Sabrina before switching to Ambrose and back again.

It was Zelda’s turn for a shrug and a not-quite-verbal “I don’t know” sound around her thumb. “They came in when I woke up."

“Who’re you?” This time the question was directed at Ambrose who opened his mouth and then promptly snapped it closed again. He turned to Sabrina.

“Cuz? A word?”

And he dragged Sabrina out into the hall by her arm.

“Ouch, Ambrose! Get off!”

Ambrose took a deep breath and pressed his hands together in front of his mouth as if he was praying for patience. “What. Did. You. Do.”

“What? Nothing!” At Ambrose’s skeptical eyebrow raise Sabrina put both her hands up in the air. “I swear. Maybe it was you,”

“It wasn’t me,”

“It might have been,” Sabrina insisted petulantly, though she knew Ambrose was probably telling the truth.

“Until we figure out exactly what happened, I don’t think it’s wise to tell them who we are to them. They’re children, not our aunties right now,”

“What if they find out?”

“I don’t know. It could mess with their memories when we get them back, or… I don’t know, cousin, we need to find out why they’re like this. Then we’ll know more about how they’ll be affected. And how to put things right.”

“Okay, so what do we tell them?”

Ambrose rubbed a hand over his face.

“Right. Fuck.”

Sabrina couldn’t help but agree. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm love them???

They were about to go back in to their aunts’ room when Ambrose paused and put his ear to the door. Sabrina looked at him curiously before doing the same. They could hear the two girls talking.

“... too nice to be burglars,”

“Why are they in our house, then?”

A silent pause.

“Hildie… Do you think…”

“Ouch! Zelda! What’d you do that for?”

“I thought maybe I was still dreaming, but- ow! I didn’t pinch you that hard, Hilda!”

Their childish voices were getting louder.

“Yes you did! Harder even,”

“No I didn’t! That really hurt, Hilda,”

“Sorry,” though Hilda didn’t sound sorry at all as she continued, “But you’re s’posed to pinch _yourself_ if you’re dreaming anyway, so I don’t think we’re in a dream ‘cause we both felt it,”

Another pause, some rustling movement, and then,

“There, Hildie, all better. Now you kiss mine,”

Hilda huffed, but there was the brief sound of movement once more and then Hilda too said, “All better, Zelds.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are all just little snippets, not real chapters. But they're in my head, so I hope you enjoy!

Ultimately, everyone agreed that things might look better over some warm milk and cookies.

Which is how the four of them ended up sitting and sipping in silence around the breakfast table in the middle of the night. The girls sat side by side on the bench that Ambrose usually occupied. Ambrose was relegated to Aunt Hilda’s usual seat, while Sabrina kept her own. Aunt Zelda’s chair was left conspicuously empty.

“So, um, Zelda,” Sabrina started, her voice sounding too loud in the near silence of the dimly lit kitchen, “you had a nightmare, huh?” Zelda narrowed her eyes over her cup at Sabrina and said nothing. “That sucks.” When no one moved-- except Ambrose who gave Sabrina an is-this-really-your-conversation-starter-cuz sort of look-- Sabrina ignored him and took a deep breath. “Um,” she tried, “do you want to talk about it?”

Ambrose lowered his face into his palm while shaking his head. Zelda continued glaring at Sabrina and took another sip of milk. Sabrina didn’t know elementary aged kids could be so imperious. Especially while sporting a milk mustache. Then, quite unexpectedly, Hilda spoke up.

“Zelda doesn’t like to talk about bad dreams with other people. Only me,”

Sabrina was surprised by how pleasant Hilda’s tone was.

“Oh, really?”

“Uh-huh,” Hilda said with a little nod, before reaching for another cookie, “we tell each other everything.”

“That's… nice,” Sabrina said, looking back and forth between the sisters. Hilda was happily munching her cookie and Zelda had sat back in her seat, arms crossed, still with a milk mustache, still silently watching Sabrina.

“Well, this has been lovely, but I, for one, am completely knackered,” Ambrose said as he got up and started to gather plates and mugs.

Hilda wiped the crumbs from her hands and looked over at Zelda. Zelda gave a little nod, which seemed to be Hilda’s cue.

“We’re going to sleep,” Hilda cheerfully announced, “You both can leave after breakfast,” and she hopped off the bench with Zelda following her.

Sabrina and Ambrose exchanged a slightly amused, but mostly overwhelmed glance at the little Hilda’s lofty tone. The two girls held hands as they left the kitchen and went up the stairs. On the landing Zelda paused and looked over the banister.

“Are there more of those cookies?”

“Uh, yeah,” Ambrose said, slightly confused.

“Good,” Zelda nodded her head once, “Goodnight.”

Hilda waved at them and then the two of them continued on up to their bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4

Sabrina hadn’t set an alarm since they had all been up so late the previous night. She figured she deserved to sleep in a bit. Salem was moving around near her bed, but she didn’t want to open her eyes yet. She heard him knock something over and her brow furrowed. That was unusual.

“Shhhh!” 

“You shhhh!”

Sabrina sighed. There was no way she would be getting back to sleep.

“Look, you woke her up, Zelds,”

“That was you, Hilda,”

“Nu-uh! You dropped the doll, not me,”

“Only because I told you not to touch it and then you did. So it’s your fault, sister,”

Sabrina heard a huff of annoyance, but no further argument from Hilda. She stirred and rolled over towards the voices before blearily blinking her eyes open. She was greeted by big blue eyes peering over the edge of her mattress.

“Hullo,” The little Hilda said, smiling widely. 

Sabrina sat up. So it hadn’t been a dream. The two girls were playing with Sabrina’s old dollhouse which was a near-perfect replica of the mortuary. 

“Why do you sleep in the nursery even though you’re not a baby?” Zelda asked with childish disdain. She looked over at Sabrina, but quickly turned back to her playing once she saw that Sabrina had heard her. Hilda was looking at Sabrina with wide, interested eyes waiting for her answer. 

“Oh, uh,” Sabrina said, still waking up, “this has always been my room, so I guess I just never moved out. I didn’t know it was a nursery,”

“Why do you have our dollhouse?” Hilda asked. 

“Aren’t you too big to play with dolls?” Zelda added. 

“Uh, yeah, I don’t really play with it anymore, but it belonged to my— uh, I mean, it was a gift and I like it so I keep it in my room,”

“Why?” Hilda looked at her with wide, earnest eyes. 

“Um, I guess ‘cause I used to play with it when I was little, like, your age, and I just never moved it out,”

“Why?”

“I just didn’t think about it, I guess,”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, I was thinking about other stuff, probably. And it is pretty cool. Besides, where else would it go?”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why?”

“Hey! You’re messing with me!”

Zelda was smirking from where she knelt in front of the dollhouse, studiously arranging miniature furniture. Hilda blinked innocently up at Sabrina with a huge false grin on her face. 

“But…” she said, “Why?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	5. Chapter 5

After a simple breakfast of toast and orange juice, Ambrose helped Sabrina get some old boxes of clothes down from the tall shelves in her closet for their new guardians-turned-charges to look through. They couldn’t really keep walking around in the two tee shirts (which fit the girls more like dresses) that they had found in the back of Aunt Hilda’s closet.

It wasn’t that surprising, once you thought about it, that Aunt Hilda had been a Dead Head.

Sabrina helped Zelda and Hilda to find something they each liked from her myriad selection of old clothes that her aunts had refused to get rid of.

Zelda ended up in a sky blue romper dress over a light grey peter pan collar shirt. She paired it with black patent leather Mary Janes and a pair of grey knee socks that her future self had knit for Sabrina as a solstice present when she was around eight. She looked as if she belonged in some sort of very posh, very drab English boarding school. Hilda chose a square neck yellow dress with a pattern of black stars and ruffled sleeves, plus a pair of orange tights. She had wanted to add some pink and purple running sneakers to her outfit, but Zelda wordlessly placed a pair of black ballet flats in front of her, which Hilda donned after looking at Sabrina to see if she approved.

They both decided that they liked the look of Sabrina’s signature headband, but when Zelda snatched up the black velvet one that Hilda had been reaching for, Hilda turned watery puppy dog eyes up at her niece, chin wobbling dangerously.

Zelda tossed a green one made of satin at Hilda instead, saying flippantly, “I need the black one. This goes better with your dress, anyway. Sabrina agrees with me, right?”

Sabrina hastily tried to soothe the little girl with an affirmative, “Yeah, Hilda, the green is a way better look for you,” but agreeing with Zelda seemed to bring the threat of waterworks even closer to the surface. Sabrina quickly changed tack, grabbing an old pair of forest green converse that she, Roz and Theo had decorated with sharpie doodles of hearts, stars, and tic-tac-toe games one summer. “Look! These will match your headband and your dress! I used to love these shoes.”

Hilda looked dubiously at the proffered sneakers and then at the green headband that lay abandoned on the ground, her tears momentarily put on hold as she considered.

“Are they supposed to look like that?” she asked Sabrina.

“Yeah! My friends and I drew on them with markers, aren’t they cool?”

Hilda glanced back at Zelda who quickly turned and looked at her reflection in the mirror, clearly trying to seem disinterested.

“Alright,” was Hilda’s lukewarm response, but she put them on, along with the headband, seeming satisfied enough. She then stuck one untied shoe out in front of Sabrina, looking expectantly up at her and said, “I can’t do bows yet.”

Sabrina sighed and got down on her knees to tie her aunt’s shoelaces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only have one more chapter "planned", but idk where to go from there. Why are the aunties small children again? If sabrina and ambrose really didnt cast any spells that could do this, who did? i have, like, 3 1/2 ideas for where this could go, but none are quite satisfying to me... so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is a chapter, what is a plot, lol.

Lunch was an interesting affair, seeing as neither Sabrina nor Ambrose could cook very much. Sabrina had never had cause to learn, growing up in a house with Aunt Hilda, though she used to love helping Aunt Hilda bake. Ambrose’s lack of culinary knowledge was more self-imposed. They ended up doing grilled cheeses, figuring even the pickiest of 6 year olds would be able to eat that.

Zelda looked at the two triangles of cheesey, buttery grilled sandwich on the plate in front of her dubiously.

“You forgot forks,” she said.

“Ah,” Ambrose said sagely, “Did we forget them? Or are they simply unnecessary for this particular delicacy?”

Hilda giggled.

Zelda frowned.

“Try it,” Sabrina told her, “It’s really good. I promise,”

Hilda sniffed at the sandwich on her plate, but didn’t pick it up. She looked over at Zelda, who seemed to be considering.

“If we don’t like it, I want marmalade on toast,” was Zelda’s eventual demand.

“Ok,” said Sabrina, “that’s actually pretty easy,”

“Now we know not to try to cook proper food again, Cuz. We'll live on cookies and toast, now how does that sound?”

Hilda let out a full laugh this time. Zelda cracked a smile, but quickly looked back down at her plate, clearly trying to hide it.

Hilda picked up one half and looked at Zelda again. Zelda gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled her eyes, before picking up her own grilled cheese. She gingerly took a tiny bite of a corner. As she chewed, Hilda took a more enthusiastic bite, looking as if she was actually enjoying the new experience.

They both ended up finishing their food without further complaint.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> at this point, i am maybe just writing this for my own amusement, but, hey

After lunch, the girls occupied themselves playing in the pet cemetery. Ambrose and Sabrina watched them from the porch.

“So, it definitely wasn’t one of us,” Sabrina said.

Ambrose shook his head, “Definitely not.” One of the girls shrieked with laughter as they took turns chasing each other in weaving patterns through the headstones. “But every time I try scrying, I keep getting that the spell was cast from inside the house,”

“You don't think…” Sabrina started, hesitating.

“What,” Ambrose said, “That one of them cast it?”

Sabrina turned to look at Ambrose. “I mean, maybe?”

Ambrose sighed and rubbed his forehead before saying, “I hate to say it, Cuz, but I think you might be right.”

“But, why would they want to turn into little kids again? And which one of them did it? I just don’t get it.” 

“Hang on,” Ambrose said, turning towards to front door. “Stay here and keep an eye on them, I’ll be right back.”

“Ambrose!” Sabrina called after him exasperatedly, “Wait!” but he was already gone. She turned back towards the yard and leaned on the porch railing. At least it was a nice, peaceful day. 

Too peaceful. 

It was suddenly very quiet. The girls had stopped making noise and she couldn’t see them in the maze of headstones anymore. Were they hiding?

“Au— I mean,” She caught herself and tried again, raising her voice to yell out, “Zelda?” She looked around, “Hilda?” 

No response. She was starting to panic. Where could they have gotten to? She craned her neck trying to see if they were at the edge of the woods, but could see nothing but the shadowy tree line.

Suddenly something grabbed her ankle and Sabrina shrieked. She jumped backwards and looked down towards the edge of the porch.

A mischievous pair of green eyes was peeking up at her over the edge of the floorboards, with four little fingers holding on to the wood on either side of her cherubic face.

“Boo.” Zelda deadpanned.

Sabrina clutched at her chest, but was starting to laugh in spite of herself. She heard giggling from somewhere closer to the ground and she went back to the railing to peer over it. Zelda was standing on Hilda’s back as she kneeled in the grass.

“We got you!” Hilda exclaimed gleefully as she continued to laugh.

Zelda raised herself up on her tiptoes towards Sabrina, revealing a toothy grin, “We definitely got you.”

“Yeah, you got me,” Sabrina said, still getting her heart rate under control.

Zelda carefully stepped off Hilda’s back and helped her sister to stand up. Hilda had grass stains on the knees of her tights, and she was still giggling as she carelessly wiped her muddy hands off on her skirt.

“Her face was so funny, Hildie! Next time you can get her,” 

“Yay!” And Hilda hugged Zelda around the waist enthusiastically. Zelda laughed as she hugged Hilda back and Sabrina wished she had a camera or her phone on her to take a picture. 

Just then, Ambrose returned holding a large and rather dusty looking spellbook under his arm. He took in the scene of the two little girls laughing together and Sabrina, holding on to the porch railing with her hand over her heart.

“What did I miss?” He asked, already grinning.

“We scared her!” Hilda told him proudly, while Zelda beamed up at Ambrose in delight.

Ambrose chuckled and said, “Did these two little monsters scare you, Cuz?”

“Yep, they got me good.”

“What’s that?” Hilda asked, pointing up at the book Ambrose was carrying.

Ambrose shifted the book to his other arm, away from the girls, and said, “It’s just a spellbook,”

“Ooooh,” Hilda said excitedly as Zelda grabbed her hand and started running towards the stairs.

“I’m really good at spells,” Zelda said, slightly out of breath as she dragged Hilda along behind her, “Mother teaches us sometimes.” She rounded the corner of the stairs and stopped in front of Ambrose, looking up at him expectantly.

“Uhh, that’s great, Zee,” Ambrose said and Zelda narrowed her eyes at the nickname, “but, er, this is a grownup spellbook.”

“You’re not a grownup,” Hilda said bluntly. She looked over at Sabrina, “Neither are you.”

Sabrina sputtered and Ambrose stared. The two little girls stared right back.

“I’m almost a hundred,” Ambrose told them.

Hilda looked like she didn’t know what to say, but Zelda only shrugged.

“That’s not that old,” she said. 

“Well, this book isn’t for you two,” Ambrose said. “Why don’t you go back to playing in the yard?”

Both girls immidiately protested. 

Hilda crossed her arms and stomped one foot. “No fair!” She pouted.

At the same time, Zelda clenched her fists and furrowed her tiny brow. “We want to see it!”

“How about we show it to you later?” Sabrina tried, hoping they would be able to get their Aunties back before “later” came around.

Hilda looked at Zelda, who was still silently glaring up at Ambrose with her two fists held stiffly at her sides.

“No!” Hilda practically yelled in the rudest tone Sabrina had heard from her yet, “That’s not even your book! You stole it from Papa’s library, you, you big—”

But before Hilda could say what exactly Ambrose was, Zelda spun on her heel and grabbed Hilda’s hand again, pulling her along as she silently stormed off.

“You big old meanie!” Hilda finished as Zelda dragged her around the corner. A second later, they heard the front door slam.

Sabrina looked at Ambrose worriedly.

“Remind me never to have kids,” he sighed as he sat down.

Sabrina sat down next to him.

“So?” She said expectantly, “What did you find out?”

“Right,” Ambrose said, opening the book and beginning to leaf through it. “Have a look at this.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i /think/ i've decided on a plot, which means this silliness finally has an end in sight :')

“A retrieval spell?”

Ambrose nodded.

“I don’t get it. How would a retrieval spell turn them younger?”

“It’s an older spell, not very precise. I found this in Aunt Hilda’s new room, open to this page, with a knocked over teacup next to it and an empty bottle of gin under the bed.” He cleared his throat in a way that sounded very much like he was saying “or three” before he went on. “I think she tried to cast it when she was drunk.”

Sabrina’s first instinct was to be incredulous. If either of their aunties were to attempt tricky spellwork while drunk, she would have guessed it would be Zelda. And regardless of who did the casting, she was very surprised that they’d make a mistake this big, regardless of how much they’d had to drink. She was about to say that there was no way Ambrose had gotten it right, but then she thought about the image Ambrose had painted. She pictured Aunt Hilda drinking gin out of her favorite teacup in her lime green pj’s and she snorted a little laugh before she could stop herself.

“It’s not funny, cuz,” Ambrose admonished her, trying to suppress his own laughter as he did so. 

He shook his head, getting himself under control while Sabrina took a deep breath.

“Of course not,” Sabrina said, aiming for a serious tone. “This is a very unfunny situation.”

“Right.” Ambrose affirmed, nodding solemnly.

They made eye contact and both promptly burst out laughing. 

“Okay, but seriously,” Sabrina said, still clutching her stomach, “What do we do?”

Ambrose wiped at his eyes. “The good news: it’s a fairly easy fix, just a matter of reversing the incantation to make it a banishing spell,”

“And the bad news?” Sabrina asked at Ambrose’s drawn out pause.

“That bad news, cuz, is that the caster must be the same person.”

They shared a look again, this one decidedly lacking any humor.

“I guess we’d better find the aunties, then.”


	9. Chapter 9

They found their small charges in the kitchen. Hilda had somehow managed to clamber her way up onto the kitchen counter to retrieve tea cups from the cabinet and Zelda was standing on a chair in front of the stove where a kettle was steaming.

They both looked up from their respective tasks when Sabrina and Ambrose walked in.

“Hey, guys,” Sabrina said, trying to sound cheerful, “What’s going on?”

“It’s time for tea,” Zelda somberly told them.

“We made you some, you’re just in time!” Hilda piped up as she carefully set two china cups down before clumsily sliding her way off the countertop. 

“That’s really nice of you!” Sabrina said, smiling, “Thanks so much!”

“Yeah,” said Ambrose, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Hilda said pleasantly as she brought the teacups over to the counter next to Zelda, one in each hand. Zelda used a tea towel to hold the kettle as she carefully poured the amber liquid into each cup, spilling quite a bit on the countertop as she did so. She didn’t seem to mind the mess she made as she hopped off the chair. Then, eerily in sync, each little girl picked up a steaming teacup and carried it over to Sabrina and Ambrose.

Ambrose took his cup and raised it to his mouth to blow on it, but he suddenly made a face and held the teacup away from his person.

“What kind of tea is this?” He asked.

The girls exchanged a look.

“Special tea,” Hilda said evasively.

“Only for grownups,” Zelda added.

Sabrina lifted her cup to her face and inhaled a deep breath of the steam rising off the little cup. It didn’t particularly smell of anything, but she immediately felt woozy.

“Whoah,” she said as she swayed a bit, moving to put the cup down on the kitchen island.

“Y’know,” Ambrose started as he, too, set his cup down, “it’s rude to try to poison people.”

Hilda’s big eyes widened comically, while Zelda’s narrowed.

“Poison?” Hilda asked, her voice climbing to a ridiculous pitch.

“Shut up, Hilda,” Zelda shot at her.

Hilda sputtered at that, looking between her sister and the cousins like she wasn’t sure who to be mad at.

“It’s rude to break into our house and touch our things and act like you live here when you don’t,” Zelda went on, as if Hilda hadn’t spoken, her little fists shaking.

Ambrose sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

“No, you’re right,” he said, “we haven’t been completely honest with you.”

“Ambrose?” Sabrina said.

“I think it’s time, cuz.”

“Okay,” Sabrina sighed, “I think we should all sit down.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isn't a proper chapter but i just love these literal babies sm!

They four of them had moved into the parlour and the two little girls were sharing the loveseat while Ambrose and Sabrina each took a plush armchair.

“So, you two are actually much older than you think you are right now, and I, for one, would really like to get you back to normal,” Ambrose finished, looking seriously at his aunts.

Hilda and Zelda both looked at Sabrina and Ambrose, and then at each other, then back again.

“You’re my niece,” Zelda slowly said to Sabrina, who nodded,“and you’re my nephew?” she finished, directing the question to Ambrose. 

“More or less.”

“So we’re older than both of you, and you’ve been bossing us around this whole time!” Hilda exclaimed. “That’s not right. You’re both grounded.”

A smile spread over Zelda’s face. “Yes. You’re both grounded. Go to your rooms.”

Ambrose chuckled, “You’re sounding more like yourself already, Auntie.”

At that the girls both giggled, leaning in towards each other as they did.

“Auntie,” Hilda mimicked, still laughing, “That’s silly.”

Once again, Sabrina wished for a camera to take a picture of the adorable little girls. If only to be able to tease her austere Aunt Zelda with it once they got their aunties back to normal.

“So, Hilda, we’re pretty sure you were the original caster, so we just need you to reverse it.” Sabrina explained as the girls’ giggles died down.

Hilda returned her attention to Sabrina and nodded, wide-eyed and serious. Then she paused and tilted her head to the side, biting the inside of her cheek. Zelda reached out across the sofa and took Hilda’s hand in hers.

“Hilda’s never done magic by herself.” Hilda’s free hand fidgeted with a loose thread on her skirt as she looked down at her lap. Zelda seemed to take her sister’s silence as confirmation. She nodded firmly. “We’ll do it together.”

Ambrose and Sabrina looked at each other.

“Will that work?” Sabrina asked.

Ambrose shrugged. “We can try,” he said, “anything’s worth a shot. We’ll do it tonight. I’ll gather the ingredients.”

Sabrina nodded.

“Can I help?” Hilda piped up unexpectedly.

“Of course! I’d be absolutely delighted, Auntie,” Ambrose said, smiling at the new round of giggles that this provoked. 

Hilda hopped off the sofa and took Ambrose’s hand as she looked up at him. 

“Off we go, then,” he said and they set off in the direction of the solarium leaving Sabrina and Zelda alone.

The miniature version of her Aunt Zelda stared at Sabrina. 

“So,” Sabrina eventually said, “do you, uh, wanna do a puzzle together or something?”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plot? in this story???

That night, they went to the guest room that had become Aunt Hilda’s new room and burned the necessary ingredients while the girls stood in a circle of candles, holding hands. Together they chanted the reversed spell Ambrose had taught them. On the third recitation, the candles all flared at once and then went out.

Everyone held their breath in the dim moonlight and waited. 

After a long moment, Zelda said, “Why is nothing happening?”

Ambrose sighed and flipped on the lights. “It didn’t work. We’ll have to think of something else.”

“Did I do it wrong?” Hilda asked, her lower lip wobbling dangerously.

“Yes, but it isn’t your fault,” Ambrose said distractedly as he leafed through the spellbook in his hands. At his words, however, Hilda promptly burst into tears.

“Ambrose!” Sabrina admonished, moving to comfort the little girl.

Zelda got to Hilda first, however, gathering her up in a hug as she glared at Sabrina. She looked so much like her grown-up self that Sabrina stopped dead in her tracks.

“Don’t cry, Hildie. It’s not your fault they’re too stupid to figure it out,” she said, still making defiant eye contact with Sabrina.

“Hey!” Sabrina said.

“I’m s-sorry,” Hilda sobbed.

“It’s okay, Hilda,” Sabrina said, immediately softening her tone, trying to soothe her. “We’ll just try again tomorrow.” 

Sabrina reached out to try to rub the girl’s back, but Zelda jerked Hilda away, making her stumble to one side, still glaring.

“Here, Hildie, sit down. _I’ll_ take care of you.” Zelda said pointedly, pushing Hilda towards the bed and then moving to get a throw blanket.

Hilda, still crying loudly, tried to climb up onto the edge of the bed. She kept slipping off at the last second, and if she weren’t so distraught, it might have been funny. As it was, Sabrina swallowed her laughter as she went over and picked the little girl up, placing her down gently so she was sitting on the bed. Zelda returned with the blanket and pushed ineffectually at Sabrina’s hip, trying to make her move away.

“Don’t touch my sister! This is all your fault anyway,” she said, still frustratedly pushing at her older niece. Sabrina took a step back to appease her.

Zelda climbed onto the bed much more successfully than her sister had and wrapped Hilda up in the blanket before kissing her on the forehead. She then plopped herself down next to Hilda and crossed her arms, still glowering at Sabrina. Hilda continued to cry.

Sabrina was at a loss. She looked at Ambrose, who was scratching his head and still looking at the spellbook. He pulled a small crystal on a chain from his pocket and muttered a few words in Latin before holding the chain above the book, letting the crystal swing in circles.

“A little help, Ambrose?”

The crystal landed on the page and Ambrose sighed, shaking his head.

“I think we should try it with just Hilda, another witch’s magic clearly interfered too much.”

“I meant, help with the crying child over there,” Sabrina told him.

“Oh, right.” Ambrose said, shutting the book with a thump. “I suppose she’s too upset to try it again tonight. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Gee, thanks,” Sabrina said sarcastically.

Hilda’s sobs suddenly stopped and she hiccuped once.

“What?” She asked the empty air in front of her.

Sabrina looked over and was about to ask who Hilda was talking to when she realized with a start that Hilda was actually looking at a small black spider that had lowered itself by its silk thread to hang in front of the little girl’s face. Zelda held on to her sister’s hand tightly, looking between the spider and Hilda apprehensively.

“Really?” Hilda said, holding her hand out for the spider to land on.

“Of course!” Ambrose exclaimed, startling everyone else in the room. “Why didn’t I think of it sooner? Familiars! Their power is linked to their witch’s magic!”

“Your familiar is a spider?” Zelda asked Hilda.

Hilda shook her head and looked at Zelda.   
  


“Not a spider,” she said in awe, “lots of spiders.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, this is not a real chapter lol

The girls would not be moved from the guest room bed that they had settled in, so Ambrose and Sabrina left them for the night. 

After a rather quiet breakfast, Ambrose and Hilda left to gather more of the ingredients that they had burned the night before. Sabrina, realizing that she had let her homework for both her schools pile up, decided to study in the living room. She told Zelda not to wander around too much, to stay out of trouble, and to not bother her while she finished up her work. 

“Ambrose?” A small voice yelled from the kitchen an hour or so after Sabrina had sat down with her textbooks. Then, when no immediate response came, “Sabrina?”

From her seat on the floor, working on some mortal history homework, Sabrina called back, “Yeah?”

Zelda walked into the room and Sabrina looked up from her textbook to see the little girl lugging the stiff and still form of Vinegar Tom.

“Who’s this? Is this Ambrose’s familiar?”

“Oh, uh, no.” Sabrina wasn’t sure how to say this. Even though Zelda hadn’t cried since they first found their aunties like this, she wasn’t sure the little girl would handle the truth about Vinegar Tom very well and she very much wanted to avoid any more tears. Especially since she wasn’t sure where Hilda was and the sisters seemed to be the only ones able to get each other to stop crying. “That’s Vinegar Tom,” Sabrina said cautiously. “He’s your…” Zelda was looking up at her expectantly. “Well, I mean, he  _ was _ your, uh,”

“He’s my familiar?” Zelda asked.

Sabrina held her breath as she nodded.

Zelda looked at the petrified dog for a second and Sabrina braced herself for questions about why he was dead, or tears, or maybe even a tantrum that Hilda’s familiars were alive while hers wasn’t. 

Suddenly Zelda let out a high pitched shriek and Sabrina flinched. Her first instinct was to reach her arms out, to try to placate or sooth.

“It’s okay, Zelda, really--”

“I LOVE him!” Zelda yelled, interrupting Sabrina, a huge grin plastered across her face as she hugged Vinegar Tom around his middle, squealing again. “He’s perfect! I always knew my familiar would be better than Hilda’s!” And she deposited him in the chair closest to the fire. 

Sabrina let out a relieved breath.

“Does he like tea?” Zelda asked Sabrina.

Sabrina laughed at how innocent her tiny Aunt Zelda sounded and without thinking said, “Try whiskey.”

Zelda nodded and was gone in a flash.

“Wait, Zelda,” Sabrina called after her, “you probably shouldn’t touch the alcohol! I was just kidding!”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is a plot? how do you story?

Sabrina had managed to keep Zelda from drinking the whiskey she had fetched for Vinegar Tom, but she could not talk the little girl out of a tea party. 

Zelda insisted that it was only proper to dress up for tea, so Sabrina was in the dress she wore to her freshman semi-formal last year while Zelda had donned an elaborate princess dress that her older self had sewn for Sabrina’s 7th birthday. She had generously given Vinegar Tom the matching tiara from her outfit, saying that  _ everyone _ needed to be dressed up. When Sabrina had arrived with Salem (who had gained an invite only after much deliberation on Zelda’s part), Zelda looked at the two of them in disapproval.

“Where’s your familiar’s outfit? I couldn’t find another tiara and he can’t have Vinegar Tom’s.”

Sabrina started to laugh, before realizing that the little girl was serious. Salem ended up in one of Ambrose’s striped neck-ties, though he adamantly drew the line at a doll-sized golfing visor. 

Sabrina made sure that she was in charge of making the tea-- not trusting Zelda after the whole poisoning incident-- while Zelda got them the cookies she had liked so much from the other night.

The four of them were just sitting down around the coffee table with a freshly brewed pot of tea for the girls, whiskey for Vinegar Tom, and a teacup of cream for Salem when the sounds of Hilda and Ambrose coming home from the woods drifted through the foyer.

“Hildie!” Zelda yelled, making Sabrina and Salem both jump, “Come here!”

Hilda poked her head into the living room. 

“Who’s that?” She asked, pointing at Vinegar Tom. 

Zelda preened and flipped a wave of her bronze hair over her shoulder before she answered her sister. “He’s my familiar.”

“Ooohh,” Hilda said, coming closer for a better look.

Zelda stepped between her sister and her dog when she deemed Hilda had gotten too close. “Don’t touch him,” she said bossily. “He’s mine, not yours.”

Hilda pouted and ducked her chin in towards her chest, but she brightened again when Zelda went on.

“You two can join us if you dress up. We’re having tea.”

Hilda clapped her hands together. “Oh goody! Zelds, will you help me pick something to wear?”

“Alright, come on,” Zelda said, taking Hilda’s hand and starting off towards the second floor. At the doorway she paused and looked back at Ambrose. “Do you want help picking an outfit too?” She asked him.

Ambrose looked taken aback at the thought of getting fashion advice from a six year old in a Halloween costume, but he composed himself, clearing his throat and saying, “Uh, no thank you, Zelda, I think I’ll sit this one out.”

Zelda shrugged indifferently and went off with Hilda. Sabrina and Ambrose could hear them chatting and giggling as they climbed the stairs.

“Is everything set for the spell?” Sabrina asked Ambrose.

“It should be, Cuz. I’m going to go over it again with Hilda’s familiars and set everything up. We could try again after lunch.”

“Good,” Sabrina said, “hopefully we’ll get them back in time for Aunt Hilda to make dinner.”

Ambrose chuckled as he left.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a while. I had a vague outline of where I wanted this chapter to end, but the dialogue just would not come to me for the longest time lol. I hope it's worth the wait! Enjoy!

The three girls and two familiars were having a fairly pleasant tea party, though Sabrina was tempted to snaffle a bit of Vinegar Tom’s whiskey when her little aunties decided to mimic everything she said for a good ten minutes. 

“Okay, if you guys keep copying me, I’m gonna eat all these cookies and there’ll be none left for you!” She finally threatened.

Hilda turned her wide eyes to her sister, who shrugged and daintily picked up her teacup.

“Who’s copying you? We aren’t, are we, Hildie?”

Hilda had to hide a toothy smile behind both her hands as she shook her head.

“Good,” Sabrina said, reaching for another cookie. “In that case, this will be my last one. I bet Ambrose is almost done setting everything up.”

But Sabrina paused with the cookie halfway to her mouth: she thought she had just heard a noise. She put the cookie down and looked over her shoulder towards one of the hidden doors in the wall.

“What’s wrong?” Hilda asked.

Sabrina turned back to the coffee table. “Nothing,” she said. “But did you guys just hear something?”

Zelda and Hilda looked at each other, both listening for a second. 

“It was probably your dumb spiders,” Zelda said decisively. “They’re jealous that they weren’t invited to our tea party and they’re trying to ruin it.”

“Nu-uh!” Hilda quickly countered. “They didn’t want to come anyway. They’re helping Ambrose.”

“It was probably just the wind,” Sabrina interjected, trying to avoid an argument.

She returned her attention to the tea and cookies.

A moment later she heard an ominous creek from behind her. She turned around again and the hidden door she had been looking at earlier was open. The hallway beyond it was dark and shadowy.

“Did you guys see that door open?” Sabrina asked, starting to feel on edge. Salem was sitting very still with his ears pointed forward and just the tip of his tail twitching as he stared in the direction of the door.

“Zelds?” Hilda said, scooting closer to her sister.

Zelda took a moment to glare at Sabrina before she answered.

“It’s probably just the wind, like you said,” she responded sharply, but she rearranged Vinegar Tom so that he was closer to her anyway.

Sabrina noticed a curtain fluttering and relaxed. With all the hidden passages in their house, sometimes an open window was all it took to create a draft that made doors creak open in the old mortuary. 

“Look,” she said, getting up and moving to close the cracked window. “It’s just this window making a draft.” And she slammed it shut a bit harder than she meant to, making herself jump.

She turned back around to see the little girls clutching each other, though Zelda pushed Hilda off when she saw Sabrina looking. Evidently the window slamming shut had startled them too.

Sabrina smiled at the two little girls, trying to reassure them, as she went to close the hidden door as well.

“See?” She said, shutting the door firmly, “It was definitely the wind. You know how this old house is.” She walked around to the armchair she had been occupying and started to take her seat. 

“Everything is totally and completely fine. There’s nothing to worry abou--”

“ARGH!!!”

All three of them screamed and Salem yowled as he jumped a good foot in the air.

A terrible, red-faced demon with large, pointy horns had jumped out from behind Sabrina’s armchair with its claws raised.

Hilda clung to Zelda who had thrown an arm around her sister and had her face buried in Vinegar Tom’s fur. Salem was hissing and spitting with his fur on end and his tail sticking straight up in alarm.

Sabrina didn’t think. She grabbed the teapot, took off the tiny china lid, and threw the contents in the face of their attacker who was roaring… with laughter?

Sabrina blinked. The terrifying claws that had been raised threateningly a moment ago were looking much more human as they rested on their assailant’s shaking belly. 

“Get it, Sabrina! Do a spell!” Zelda yelled shrilly from behind her stuffed familiar.

Sabrina took a closer look and started to laugh too. The terrible demon’s face moved aside as Ambrose took the mask off.

“Oh,” Ambrose sighed, wiping at his eyes, “Your faces! That was too good.”

Hilda cracked one eye open and peeked out from where her face was hidden in Zelda’s shoulder.

“Oi!”

Sabrina and Ambrose tried unsuccessfully to reign in their laughter and looked down into the small, indignant face of one Hilda Spellman. 

“It’s not funny! That was too scary! And it’s not nice to laugh! You scared us really bad!”

The two cousin’s laughter died as they registered that Hilda was still clinging to Zelda, whose shoulders were shaking.

“Oh, no,” Sabrina said, “Zelda, don’t be scared. It was just a joke.”

She looked helplessly at Ambrose who cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“I’m sorry, Zee. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Zelda turned her tiny, tear-streaked face on Ambrose.

“I’m n-not scared, and I’m n-not crying! I just d-d-don’t like it when you laugh at me!” And she dissolved into tears again.

Ambrose tried to put a hand on Zelda’s shoulder, but Hilda stepped in front of her sister with a glare. 

“You’re mean and you’re gonna be in big trouble when I’m a grown up again,” Hilda declared. “You’re both grounded. And no dessert before bed-- No!” She interrupted herself-- “No supper at all!” 

Behind Hilda, Zelda sniffed loudly and wiped her tears off on one of Vinegar Tom’s floppy ears. Sabrina winced, thinking of what the older Aunt Zelda’s reaction would have been if Sabrina had ever done the same to the poor familiar when she was younger.

Zelda stuck her thumb in her mouth and turned her baleful gaze on the cousins. “You’we gwounded, really this time, and I’m sewious,” she told them around her thumb.

“I really do apologize, Aunties,” Ambrose said, kneeling down on one knee so he was closer to their height.

“And I’m sorry for laughing,” Sabrina said. “I promise I wasn’t laughing at you guys.”

The two little girls looked at each other, seemingly deciding whether or not to accept the apologies. After a moment, they nodded at each other and Hilda turned back to Sabrina and Ambrose. Zelda continued to suck her thumb as she petted Vinegar Tom and ignored everyone else in the room.

“Alright,” Hilda said.

“Alright, you accept our apology?” Sabrina asked.

Hilda waited one more moment before nodding.

Ambrose clapped his hands together, smiling brightly, before gathering Hilda up in a bear hug.

“Thank you, Aunties,” he said.

Hilda giggled in surprise and hugged him back. Zelda looked up from Vinegar Tom’s soft fur to see what the fuss was about. Sabrina gave her a tentative smile.

“But we’re still mad at you,” Hilda told Ambrose with one finger pointed into his face threateningly as he let her go.

Zelda nodded sharply agreement, pointedly not returning Sabrina’s smile.

“As well you should be,” Ambrose said good-naturedly. “However, I did finish setting everything up for the counter-spell. If we all want to go upstairs and do that, you two can be mad at me as actual adults.”

Zelda finally took her thumb out of her mouth.

“Good,” she sniffed, “I hate being this age.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmk if you liked this one! Hope everyone's staying safe and healthy!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk if anyone is still reading this, but we're almost at the end, babey!

The four of them went up to Aunt Hilda’s sometimes-used spare bedroom. The little girls donned their adult-sized robes and Hilda moved to take her place inside the circle of candles Ambrose had set up. There were now four small glass houses, containing Hilda’s familiars, placed at each cardinal direction surrounding the candles.

Zelda stood next to Sabrina and somberly took her hand. Sabrina looked down in surprise at Zelda and gave the cold little hand in hers a squeeze. She smiled down at her aunt in what she hoped was a reassuring manner.

“Now,” Ambrose said, “you remember the words, Hilda?”

Hilda nodded, and flexed her little fingers at her sides. She licked her lips nervously and glanced over at Zelda.

Sabrina felt Zelda’s grip tighten so that it was almost painful, but Zelda did not look away from Hilda.

“You can do this, Hildie,” was all she said.

Hilda’s little brow furrowed in determination and she nodded sharply. She looked to Ambrose once more.

“I’m ready,” she told him.

Ambrose lit the candles surrounding Hilda and then went to stand next to Sabrina. Hilda closed her eyes in concentration and started to chant the spell. 

Halfway through the first line of Latin, Sabrina felt Zelda’s hand in hers begin to shift. She looked down, but Zelda had already begun to grow and was as tall as Sabrina’s shoulder, continuing to get taller. Sabrina looked over at Ambrose who was watching Hilda proudly. Ambrose looked back at Sabrina, beaming. He pumped his fist in the air in triumph: it was working! By the end of the second repetition, both of the Aunties looked to be young adults. They kept aging as Hilda kept chanting and Sabrina squeezed Zelda’s hand again excitedly. Zelda kept her eyes on Hilda as she finished the final repetition of the spell and fell silent, both of them back to their normal age. Hilda cautiously cracked one eye open, then blinked, seeming to get her bearings.

Then, their aunts were standing before them, looking at each other.

“You’re back!” Sabrina exclaimed, hugging her Aunt Zelda around the waist. Zelda put one arm around Sabrina and patted her shoulder, but she did not take her eyes off of Hilda. 

Ambrose’s smile slowly slid off his face as he looked back and forth between the two fully grown sisters.

“Uh, Cousin?” He said. “I think our dear Aunties might benefit from a bit of space.” Sabrina let go of her aunt, but didn’t move very far away. “And a private conversation,” Ambrose went on, looking at Sabrina pointedly.

“Quite right, Ambrose,” Zelda said coldly.

Hilda gulped.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who stuck with this silly piece of nonsense! And thank you to everyone who commented!!! It was nice to know other people were enjoying this as much as me, especially when I didn't know where the fuck this story was even going lol. It's finally done! Hope it was worth the wait for those of you who are still here!

Sabrina and Ambrose left the room silently.

As soon as they were in the hallway with the door closed, they looked at each other. 

“Yikes,” Sabrina said, pulling a face.

Ambrose returned her grimace and agreed. “I’ll say.”

“We should probably give them some space, right?”

“You’re right, Sabrina. That would be the morally sound thing to do…”

They looked at each other for one more second before simultaneously diving for the door and pressing their ears against the wood to eavesdrop.

“... what exactly you were thinking, sister,” Zelda was saying.

“Oh, I don’t know, Zelda,” Hilda hissed back. “Maybe I was thinking that I missed my sister and I wanted her back.”

Zelda scoffed.

“You missed me? May I remind you, Hildegard, it was your choice to take a job in that grimy mortal bookstore.” Hilda made a noise of protest, but Zelda spoke over her: “It was your choice to move into this ridiculous spare bedroom,”

“I only sleep here sometimes--”

Zelda’s voice got even louder as she interrupted Hilda to practically shout, “And it was certainly your choice to abandon your coven-- your very own family-- to play house with some Count Chocula wannabe! Forgive me, sister,” Zelda spat, “but I fail to see how any of those choices were meant to construe that you missed me. I’ve been right here this whole time.” Zelda’s voice cracked on her last words.

There was silence from the other side of the door. In the hallway, Sabrina felt guilty for listening in, but at the same time she wanted to know what was going on.

“Oh Zelds…” They heard. Someone sniffed.

A floorboard creaked and they heard Zelda’s watery voice say, “Unhand me,” though there was no real bite behind it.

“No,” was Hilda’s muffled reply. 

Another stretch of silence.

"I really am sorry, Zelda."

"Oh, hush," came Zelda's flippant response, though her voice was still thick with tears. "I shed one single tear and you start blubbering. Honestly, sister."

"I mean it, Zelds."

"Yes, well, next time, perhaps you could try simply talking to me."

"You don't make it easy, you know."

“How fortunate, then, that you've always been such a hard worker,” was Zelda's teasing response. 

They heard Hilda's giggle, hardly changed from when she was little. 

“It's good to be back, Zelds. Good thing Ambrose and Sabrina kept their heads and got us sorted out, eh?”

“Those two troublemakers? Yes, praise all that's unholy that they managed to improve the situation rather than make it worse.”

Sabrina made the beginnings of an indignant huff, before Ambrose shot her a sharp warning glare. She gave him a contrite smile before pressing her ear against the door once more.

They both listened for another moment, straining their ears to try to hear what was going on, when suddenly an electric jolt shot through the door, shocking any part of them that was in contact with the wood. They both jumped backwards, falling into an undignified heap in the middle of the hallway.

The door creaked open to reveal both Zelda and Hilda looking down at them disapprovingly. 

"Serves you right for eavesdropping," Hilda told them. 

"I thought we taught them better than that," Zelda said to Hilda with a disappointed shake of her head. She sighed and looked down her nose at the pair of cousins. "The lack of subtlety between the two of you is appalling."

"Sorry, Auntie," Sabrina and Ambrose chorused. 

"Not as sorry as you'll be without a home-cooked dinner. You two are on your own tonight. We," Hilda said, looking back at Zelda, "have some talking to do."

Hilda held out her elbow and though Zelda rolled her eyes, she acquiesced and linked her arm through her sister's. Together they walked arm in arm down the hallway to their bedroom, closing the door behind themselves. 

Sabrina and Ambrose looked at each other.

“Hey, do you think they remember grounding us when they were little?” Sabrina asked.

Ambrose considered for a moment, then said, “Nah, Cuz, I think we’re in the clear. Burgers at Dr. Cee's? Your treat."

Sabrina laughed and shoved at Ambrose's shoulder. "Okay, but only because a burger sounds really good right now."

They both got up and were dusting themselves off when Hilda poked her head out of the bedroom door.

“And you’re both still grounded for your tea party shenanigans. No going out,” she told them matter of factly.

“That wasn’t even me!” Sabrina argued. 

Zelda’s voice drifted into the hallway: “You were an accessory.”

Hilda nodded at them sharply and shut the door again in the face of their protests. They heard the lock click and Ambrose sighed.

“Pizza?” Sabrina suggested.

“Pizza it is,” Ambrose agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... What d'you think? I hope this story made some ppl smile! Lmk! 💕


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